Page 35 - Food&Drink Nov-Dec 2020

AUSTRALIA’S TOP 100 FOOD & DRINK COMPANIES 2020
DATA SOURCED FROM
ABBREVIATIONS O Overseas NL Non-listed P Publicly listed Pty Proprietary/private C Co-operative ▼ Revenue down ▲ Revenue up
CARLTON & UNITED BREWERIES
9
REV UP/DOWN
TYPE
REV $M
PERIOD
PREVIOUS REV $M
AT THE HELM
▼
O Pty
2488
12/19
2504
Peter Filipovic
CUB moves house
ABI Australia Holding Pty Ltd, trading as Carlton & United Breweries (CUB), is a foreign- owned private company, deriving revenue from the production and marketing of alcoholic beverages. Last year, it rode into the top 10 after its acquisition and restructure by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/BV (SAB Beverage Investments). Then in July 2019, Asahi Group Holdings proposed to buy CUB for $16 billion, with proceeds set to pay down AB InBev’s debt.
In April this year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it
would not oppose the acquisition with conditions.
For the deal to go ahead, Asahi had to offload two of its beer licences – Stella Artois and Beck’s – and three of its cider brands – Strongbow, Bonamy’s and Little Green. The Foreign Investment Review Board gave its sign off in May. In October, Heineken N.V. announced it would acquire the five brands Asahi had to sell.
At press time the ACCC had not signed off on the sale.
As part of Asahi Beverages, its two alcohol businesses will be combined and operate as CUB.
The company employs
approximately 1700 people, operates in Australia,
New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and is administered by its head office in Southbank, Victoria. Its beer brands include Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught, Fat Yak, Crown Lager, Foster’s and Balter. CUB also licences and distributes a range of other beer brands including Corona and Budweiser. CUB’s cider range includes Mercury, Spring Cider Co., Dirty Granny and Pure Blonde Cider.
CUB also manufactures and distributes Bulmers under licence from Heineken.
10
GEORGE WESTON FOODS
George Weston Foods taps into vegetarian trend
REV UP/DOWN
TYPE
REV $M
PERIOD
PREVIOUS REV $M
AT THE HELM
▲
O Pty
2320
08/19
2254
Stuart Grainger
FOOD Investments Pty Ltd, trading as George Weston Foods (GWF), is a foreign-owned private company, deriving revenue from the milling, manufacturing, processing and distribution of food products. The company employs approximately 6320 people, operates in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Thailand, and is administered from its head office in North Ryde, New South Wales. Food Investments Pty Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Associated
British Foods plc (ABF), which is majority owned by UK-based investment firm, Wittington Investments Limited.
Its brands include Tip Top, Sunblest, Abbotts Village Bakery, Bürgen, Golden, DON, KR Castlemaine, Yumi’s and bakery ingredients company Mauri.
ABF’s 2020 annual report said GWF continued to make good progress delivering,
sales growth and margin improvement, with strong sales of bread and breakfast goods
by Tip Top more than offsetting weaker foodservice sales of
meat products by the Don KRC business. ABF said chilled dips and snacks business Yumi’s
had strong growth due to the increasing trend for meat-free foods. GWF acquired the business in 2018.
New packing automation and filling equipment has increased production speeds and enabled Yumi’s to meet growing consumer and retailer demand for a wider dip range.
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | November-December 2020 | Food&Drink business | 35